CHAPTER 3

SLUDGE THICKENING

Thickening is a procedure used to increase the solids content of sludge by removing a

portion of the liquid fraction. To illustrate, if waste activated sludge, which is typically
pumped from secondary tanks with a content of 0.8% solids, can be thickened to a content
of 4% solids, then a fivefold decrease in sludge volume is achieved [1].

Thickening is generally accomplished by physical means including co-settling, gravity settling,

flotation, centrifugation, gravity belt, and rotary drum [1].

The volume reduction obtained by sludge concentration is beneficial to subsequent

treatment processes, such as digestion, dewatering, drying and combustion from the
following standpoints:

1. Capacity of tanks and equipment required

2. Quantity of chemicals required for sludge conditioning
3. Amount of heat required by digesters and amount of auxiliary fuel required for heat
drying or incineration, or both.

Volume reduction is very desirable when liquid sludge is transported by tank trucks for direct
application to land as a soil conditioner [1].

Thickening Techniques Used in Sludge Processes

Most common techniques of thickening in sludge processing are given in Table 1.

Table 1. Thickening Techniques Used in Sludge Processes [2].
Method Sludge type Frequency and performance
Gravitational settling Raw primary Very good results.
Gravitational settling Raw primary and W.A.S Frequently used. Small facilities obtain 4-6% solids
concentration. Not often used in large facilities.
Gravitational settling W.A.S Not frequently used. Low solids concentration (2-3%)
Dissolved Air Flotation Raw primary and W.A.S Not frequently used. Results seem to gravitational
(DAF) settling
Dissolved Air Flotation W.A.S Frequently used. Good results obtained (3.5-5%
(DAF) solids concentration)
Basket centrifuge W.A.S Limited use. Good results obtained (8-10% solids
concentration)
Solid-bowl centrifuge W.A.S Usage is increasing. Good results obtained (4-6%
solids concentration)
Gravity belt filter W.A.S Usage is increasing. Good results obtained (3-6%
solids
concentration)
Rotary drum W.A.S Limited use. Good results obtained (5-9% solids
concentration)
Location of the thickener in a wastewater treatment plant is important. If sludge is to be
digested, thickening a blend of primary and waste activated sludge is a good practice. If
these sludges are to be dewatered, then they should be thickened separately and mixed
immediately before dewatering [3].

Sludge Thickening vs. Dewatering

Both are methods of solids concentration and volume reduction. Only the degree of volume
reduction is different. Generally thickeners concentrate sludge at lower than 15%
concentration, the dewatering units concentrate the sludge to higher than 15%
concentration [3]. Thickened sludge still behaves as a liquid and can be pumped. However,
the dewatered sludge generally behaves as a solid and can be trucked in most cases.

Operation of a Thickener

A thickener operates pretty much like a settling tank. The feed enters from the middle, are
distributed radially, the settled sludge is collected from the underflow, the effluent exits
over the weirs.

In a continuously operated thickener, there are different zones of concentration. The

topmost dear zone is free of solids and comprises the liquid that eventually escapes over the
weirs. The next zone is called the feed zone although this zone does not necessarily have the
same concentration of feed solids. This zone is characterized by a uniform solids
concentration. Below the feed zone is a zone of increasing solids concentration (from feed
zone concentration to underflow concentration). This zone is compaction zone.

Sludge blanket is defined as the top of the feed zone. The height of this blanket is the main
operational control that the treatment plant operator has over the thickener. By increasing
the underflow rate, the operator can lower the blanket, and hence the solids residence time
is lowered, throughput of solids is increased and the solids concentration in the underflow is
decreased. The operator then would have a higher reserve volume in case there is an
unexpected heavy sludge load coming. A high sludge blanket will make the underflow solids
concentration high due to high solids residence time. One problem with this approach is the
gas formation due to the anaerobic activity. The gas formed will cause the flotation of the
solids in the thickener. Chemicals like chlorine (CI2) need to be added to inhibit the biological
activity. A well operated thickener will have a solids recovery of about 95% [3].

Design of Thickeners

The thickening process takes place in a settling tank with long-enough solids retention time.
For example in secondary clarifiers of activated sludge systems both clarification and
thickening operations are carried out. Actually, the thickening of the sludge is a concern to
the operator where he desires a high underflow solids concentration. So it is the general
practice to design these processes for both thickening and clarification performance.
Similar to the digesters, there are two design approaches in thickeners too:

1. Design based on experience.

2. Design based on Iaboratory data.

1. Design based on experience

Solids throughput is an important criterion in the design of thickeners. The design is mostly
based on the solids flux, i.e. kg solids/h/m2. Typical flux values are given in Table 2.

Table 2. Typical flux values (kg solids/h/m2)[3].

Activated Sludge 0.8 - 1.0

Trickling Filter Humus 1.8

Raw Primary Sludge 4.5 - 5.1

Raw Primary & WAS 1.6 - 2.4

Pure O2 activated sludge 2.0

The design involves selecting a typical solids flux and calculating the required surface area by
dividing the anticipated solids feed by the flux [3].

Area of the thickener:

2. Design based on Iaboratory data

First Approach:
It is the best technique if the Iaboratory data is available. Typical test is done by using a
1000mL-graduated cylinder. Sludge is mixed homogenously and let to settle in the cylinder.
In seconds an interface separating the solids and the clear water on top is formed with a
certain settling velocity. This velocity of the interface is measured with respect to time.
Interface height is plotted against time and the zone settling velocity (ZSV) is calculated from
the initial slope of the graph. The graph is given in Figure 1.
The velocity with which solids settle out will depend on the concentration of solids. Right
after time zero, there are two interfaces moving towards each other. One from the bottom
up due to the building up layers of sludge from the bottom, the other interface is moving
down from top to bottom, this is the blanket of settling sludge, settling velocity, v. At time t2,
these will meet and settling will slow down. Then the settling will cease over time and
compaction begins [3]. Figure 2 shows the illustration of interfaces during settling test.
 ZSV

Figure 1. Interface heights [3].

Figure 2. Illustration of interfaces during settling test [3].

Talmage and Fitch Procedure to find the Required Area
The graph (Figure 3) and the procedure are given below to select the required area of the
thickener.

Figure 3. Graph to select the required area according to Talmage and Fitch procedure [3].

Procedure:

1. Determine the slope of the zone settling region (ZSV) (this is the settling velocity for
clarification).

2. Extend the tangents from the ZSV region and compression region and bisect the angle
formed to locate point 1.

3. Draw a tangent to the curve at point 1.

4. Knowns: Co, Ho, and select Cu, then make a mass balance

Cu.Hu = Co.Ho, calculate Hu from:

5. Draw a horizontal line from Hu until it intersects with the tangent line and determine tu.
This is the time required to reach an underflow concentration.

6. Determine the area required for thickening (At)

where

Q = flowrate to the aeration tank excluding the recycle flow

R = recycled sludge flow
Q+R = total flow to the clarifier
1.5 = scale-up factor

7. Determine the area required for clarification (Ac)

Q = the effluent flow over the weir (same as above)

2.0 = scale-up factor

"Whichever area is larger will govern the design and will be the design area."

Second Approach

Second approach in the design of thickeners is the solids flux approach.

Settling velocity, ZSV, is a function of solids concentration. If we plot that, the relationship
will look like:

Figure 4. ZSV vs solids concentration [3].

From this relationship we can multiply the velocity with the concentration to obtain the
solids flux (m/h*kg/m3 = kg/m2h = flux unit). If we plot flux versus concentration, then batch
settling solids flux graph will be obtained (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Flux vs solids concentration graph of a batch settling flux [3].

The thickener design based on the solids flux data obtained in the Iaboratory involves the
selection of the solids flux that will limit the operation of the thickener in other words, the
maximum solids loading.

The thickener given here will operate successfully as long as the rate of solids applied to the
top does not exceed the rate at which solids are transmitted to the bottom.

There are two ways the solids can move to the bottom:

1. Under the influence of their settling velocity, bulk downward

2. Due to the continuous removal of sludge at the bottom as underflow.
The first is also called the batch settling flux, this is due to the settlement of solids and as
expected is a function of solids concentration and the settling velocity of particles. We can
call this as the Gb and Gb is:

where, Vi and Ci are the velocity and concentration at a layer "i" in the thickener,
respectively.

The second mechanisms of movement is independent of the solids settling in the thickener,
whether the solids settle or not, there pumping of the sludge from the bottom of the tank.
Let's call this flux as Gu (underflow flux); the Gu is:

where, u= the velocity created by the underflow sludge removal.

At some time, at some level "i" in the thickener, the total flux Gi is the sum of these two
fluxes, i.e. the underflow flux and the batch settling flux:

or

If this equation is plotted the graph below would be obtained (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Total flux curve [3].

Note that the total flux curve has a minimum value (GL) between the influent solids
concentration (Co) and underflow solids concentration (Cu). This minimum flux is the
maximum allowable solids loading for the thickener to work successfully. When flux is at
minimum, we calculate for the maximum area required. If this limit is exceeded, the solids
will overflow in the effluent. So the design of a thickener is thus reduced to the point of
determining this flux.

Then to find GL, a graphical method which is called Yoshika Construction is used. Figure 7
shows the construction.

Figure 7. Yoshika Construction method to find GL [3].

Draw a tangent from the desired underflow concentration to the solids flux curve (not the
total flux curve) as given above. The intersection point on y-axis is the limiting flux (GL).

After finding GL, use the eqn. given below to find the area:

A= required area for thickening,

Qo = flow rate,
Co = feed solids concentration

Nominator of the above eqn. is the maximum mass loading rate (kg/h), the denominator is
the max loading rate allowable per unit area.
References:

[1] Metcalf and Eddy, 1997. Wastewater Engineering, Treatment, Disposal and Reuse.
McGraw Hill, New York.

[2] http://web.deu.edu.tr/atiksu/ana58/bolum08.pdf

[3] Enve 422, Treatment and disposal of water and wastewater sludge,
METU.